The World Is Not Disposable: The Slow Work of Renewal

Hi folks, I hope you are doing ok? This week we are meeting at 7.30 at the Enigma Tap, and we hope you can join us.

There is something rather wonderful about autumn. The leaves fall, the flowers disappear, the trees become bare and the landscape begins to look a little tired. If we didn’t know any better, we might think that everything was coming to an end. But of course, it isn’t. Beneath the surface, things are happening. Leaves return to the soil, seeds lie dormant, roots continue to grow and the natural world quietly prepares for another season. What looks like an ending is often part of something new beginning.

I wonder whether there is something here that might help us think about renewal, particularly as we approach the end of another year. How do we understand renewal? We often think of it as starting again: a fresh beginning, a clean sheet of paper, a chance to put things right. And sometimes that is exactly what we need. But perhaps renewal is also about restoration and rebirth. It can be something deeper: learning to care for what we already have, repairing what has become damaged and recognising that the things we might have given up on still have value.

There is another idea I’ve been playing around with here, and that is time. If we tended things more, perhaps we would begin to appreciate just how long renewal takes. Autumn doesn’t simply happen and then end. It is a process. Leaves slowly change colour, eventually fall and then gradually decompose. What was once part of the tree becomes nourishment for the soil. We are often in such a hurry to see results that we miss the processes taking place around us. Perhaps we need to slow down a little and recognise that some of the most important things happen gradually, often out of sight.

The World Is Not Disposable

We live in a world where it is often easier to throw things away and replace them than to repair them. We have become used to convenience, to having the next thing, to moving on when something becomes difficult or no longer serves us. And perhaps that way of thinking can affect more than just the things we own. We can sometimes treat places, relationships and even people as disposable.

But nature tells a different story. A fallen tree can become a home for insects and fungi, and eventually provide the conditions for new growth. Fallen leaves feed the soil. What might look like waste becomes part of the cycle of life.

Perhaps renewal begins when we start to see things differently. Rather than asking what can be discarded, we might ask what can be restored, repaired or given another chance. What might happen if we were more patient, more attentive and more willing to care for the things around us?

A Vision of Healing

The passage from Revelation 22:1–5 offers a beautiful image of renewal. It describes a river of the water of life flowing through the city, with the tree of life growing on either side, bearing fruit and offering leaves for the healing of the nations.

I love the fact that nature is right at the centre of this vision. The tree isn’t simply decoration, and the river isn’t just part of the scenery. They are essential to the picture of a world made whole. The leaves are there for healing, not just of individuals but of nations. It is a vision of reconciliation, restoration and life flourishing.

It is a very different picture from the idea that the Christian hope is simply about leaving this world behind and going somewhere else. Here, the hope is for the whole of creation to be healed and renewed. The natural world isn’t a backdrop to the story. It is part of the story itself.

What might it mean to take that vision seriously? What would a world look like where the things that are broken are being healed, where relationships are restored, where nations find ways to live in peace and where the natural world is allowed to flourish?

Renewal Takes Time

Of course, renewal rarely happens overnight. Anyone who has tried to grow something, restore a neglected garden or repair a relationship will know that. There are setbacks, things take longer than expected and sometimes the progress is difficult to see.

Perhaps we also need to recognise that not everything can, or should, be rushed. Sometimes the best thing we can do is to keep tending, keep caring and allow the time and space needed for something new to grow.

This is true of our communities too. Healing and renewal require patience, listening, honesty and a willingness to change. They also require us to recognise that we cannot do everything on our own. Just as nature depends on a whole network of relationships, so do we. Renewal is something we take part in together.

All Things Held Together

Perhaps this is where the idea of renewal connects with our faith and spirituality. The story we find in Revelation is not simply about escaping this world and going somewhere else. It is a vision of the world being made well: a river of life flowing through the city, the tree of life bearing fruit, and leaves bringing healing to the nations.

It is a picture of a creation where life can flourish, where wounds are healed and where nothing is treated as disposable. Perhaps our part in preparing for that new creation is to begin living towards it now: caring for the places where we live, repairing what we can, building relationships, making room for others and learning to pay attention to the natural world around us.

The image of the tree of life and the river flowing through the city is a powerful one to hold onto as we approach the end of the year. It reminds us that renewal is possible, that healing can happen and that the story of our world is not finished yet.

Perhaps the question for us is this: what if renewal begins when we stop treating the world as disposable and start recognising it as something we are called to love, tend and help flourish?

Perhaps the world doesn’t need us to start again. Perhaps it needs us to learn how to care for it, and one another, a little better. And maybe that is what it means to prepare for new creation.

• Questions
• If you could bring one thing back to life, what would it be? A favourite childhood sweet, an old TV programme, a fashion trend (perhaps not!), or something else entirely?

 

• When you hear the word renewal, what does it mean to you? Is it about starting again, repairing something, or discovering something new?

 

• Where have you noticed renewal happening around you recently, perhaps in nature, in your community or in someone’s life?

 

• We live in a throwaway culture. What do you think we have become too quick to discard, whether that’s possessions, relationships, places or even people?

 

• Revelation gives us a picture of a tree whose leaves bring healing to the nations. What do you think our world most needs healing from at the moment?

 

• What is one thing you could give a little more time, attention or care to that might help it flourish?

 

A little extra thought: If you could plant a tree that represented your hopes for the future, what would it be, and what would you want it to stand for?

 

Peace, Rob

 

Photo: Rob Wylie